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Mississippi County
Montgomery County, Mississippi
Winona and north-central Mississippi hill country - from Winona's position along the historic Illinois Central railroad corridor (the railroad shaped Winona's development as a commercial hub in north-central Mississippi, and the city remains the county's primary commercial center serving the surrounding agricultural communities) to Montgomery County's transition landscape between the Delta and the hill country (the county sits at the eastern edge of the Mississippi Delta's influence, with bottomland cotton fields giving way to rolling hills and timber land as terrain rises toward the east).
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Office: Montgomery County Emergency Operations Center – 109 Liberty St, Winona, MS 38967 | (662) 283-1121; Coroner/EMA contact Allan Pratt.
Sheriff: Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office – 614 Summit St, Winona, MS 38967 | (662) 283-3343 / (662) 283-4612 | Email: [email protected]; Sheriff Jeff Tompkins; elected at-large, four-year term.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. CodeRED weather/emergency telephone notification available via montgomerycountyms.com.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-55 and US-51/82 intersect at Winona, the county seat, known locally as “The Crossroads.”
Notes: Montgomery County was organized in 1871 by the Reconstruction-era state legislature from portions of Carroll and other counties, with Winona designated county seat; named either for Revolutionary War General Richard Montgomery (killed 1775 attempting to capture Quebec City) or, indirectly, for Montgomery County, Tennessee. Roughly 9,350-9,820 residents across 407-408 square miles. A yellow fever epidemic struck the area in 1878, killing many residents.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Montgomery County Courthouse – Winona, MS 38967.
Notes: Montgomery County is genuinely, gravely significant in American civil rights history. On June 9, 1963, civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer – who was born in Montgomery County in 1917 – and several fellow activists were arrested in Winona after sitting at a “whites only” lunch counter at the bus depot while returning from a voter education workshop. At the county jail, Hamer and others were severely beaten; Hamer suffered permanent kidney damage and other lasting injuries. An all-white jury acquitted the officers charged in federal court. The beating became one of the defining, most widely cited episodes of the civil rights movement, and Hamer went on to co-found the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and become a nationally prominent voting rights advocate. A Mississippi State Historical Marker was unveiled at the site of the old Montgomery County Jail in June 2022, and the City of Winona has since proclaimed June 9 as Fannie Lou Hamer Day.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Montgomery County Veterans Service Office – confirm current contact via montgomerycountyms.com.
Federal: VA facilities accessible via a Greenwood, MS or Jackson, MS VA clinic; confirm current routing.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Confirm current Winona public library address/phone via montgomerycountyms.com.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Fannie Lou Hamer historical marker at the site of the old county jail is the county’s most historically significant site.
Notes: The genuine, gravely significant Fannie Lou Hamer history is among the most important civil rights facts covered anywhere in this project – the county’s own recent public reckoning with and commemoration of this history (the 2022 marker, the annual Fannie Lou Hamer Day) reflects an ongoing community effort toward acknowledgment.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Montgomery County Tax Assessor/Collector – Sharon Pyron; 614 Summit St, Winona, MS 38967 | (662) 283-2112.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Winona Animal Shelter (City of Winona) – 409 Summit St, PO Box 29, Winona, MS 38967 | (662) 283-1232 / Animal Control Officer Richard Johnson (662) 602-0003 | Email: [email protected]; newly opened (grand opening October 2025) with support from the Ellard Foundation and the Winona Animal Advocacy Group.
Hope Animal Sanctuary – offers low-cost/no-cost spay & neuter services in Montgomery and Carroll Counties, since 1993.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Montgomery County Sanitation – confirm current contact via montgomerycountyms.com.
NOTES: Montgomery County is the seventh and final county in the seventh batch of the Mississippi v2 A+ sourced redo. The genuine, gravely significant Fannie Lou Hamer history – her birth in the county and the brutal 1963 beating she endured in Winona – is among the most important civil rights facts covered anywhere in this project. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Montgomery County
Montgomery County is north-central Mississippi’s Delta-edge agricultural county – Winona anchors the county along the old Illinois Central rail line while the surrounding landscape of cotton fields, timber, and cattle farms reflects the county’s position at the transition between the flat Delta and the rolling hills of central Mississippi.
Winona (the county seat, population ~4,300) is Montgomery County’s governmental and commercial hub, one of north-central Mississippi’s more substantial small cities serving surrounding rural communities along US 51.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Montgomery County Assessor at 114 Main Street, Winona, MS 38967, phone 662-283-2333. MS assessed at percentage of true value by property class.
Courts & Legal
Montgomery County Circuit Court at 114 Main Street, Winona, MS 38967, phone 662-283-2333, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CHANCERY CLERK
101 E. Washington St., Winona, MS 38967
(662) 283-2333
CIRCUIT CLERK
101 E. Washington St., Winona, MS 38967
(662) 283-2333
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Montgomery County Chancery Court (probate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Montgomery County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Montgomery County Chancery Court 614 Summit Street (mail: P.O. Box 71), Winona, MS 38967 (662) 283-2333 Montgomery County was founded 1871, in central Mississippi, seated in Winona.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Mississippi has not adopted the Uniform Probate Code and instead follows its own statutory framework under Miss. Code Ann. Title 91, Chapter 7. Mississippi’s small-estate threshold, at $75,000, is one of the lowest in the country, so most estates end up needing at least some court involvement.
Small Estate Affidavit (Miss. Code Ann. § 91-7-322) – personal property only, up to $75,000 (excluding liens and encumbrances). A 30-day waiting period after death applies. The affidavit is presented directly to whoever holds the property (a bank, for instance); that party is not required to investigate the truth of the affidavit and is protected from liability once it complies.
Muniment of Title (Miss. Code Ann. § 91-5-35) – a limited proceeding to transfer real property named in a will, without full administration, when the estate’s non-real-estate assets are $75,000 or less and all debts (including taxes) have been paid. A petition is still filed with the Chancery Court to declare the will valid; the will and court order are then recorded in the land records.
Formal Administration – required for most estates with real property beyond the muniment-of-title threshold or significant liquid assets. The Chancery Judge reviews the petition, the will (if any), and supporting documents before issuing Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration appointing the personal representative.
Step 2: filing for probate
File a petition with the Chancery Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled.
The personal representative inventories assets and notifies creditors; Mississippi’s creditor claim period runs 90 days (Miss. Code Ann. § 91-7-145).
Claims and disputes are adjudicated by the Chancery Court if contested.
Once debts are settled and the creditor period closes, the estate can be distributed and closed.
What it costs
Costs are the Chancery Clerk’s per-county filing fee (built on the statewide base under Miss. Code § 25-7-9), plus recording fees and publication costs.
Mississippi has no state estate tax or inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax could separately apply, and only to very large estates.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
101 E. Washington St., Winona, MS 38967
(662) 283-4747
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
101 E. Washington St., Winona, MS 38967
(662) 283-2333
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Montgomery County Health Department (Mississippi State Department of Health) – confirm current phone via montgomerycountyms.com.
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Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Winona
Population: 10,000
Area: 407 sq mi
Established: 1871
Tier: 4
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Montgomery County residents.
